bwin Grand Slam of Darts Qualifier

STEPHEN BUNTING and Alan Norris were amongst the eight players to secure spots in the bwin Grand Slam of Darts at Monday's PDC Tour Card Holders' Qualifier in Wigan.

Former Lakeside Champion Bunting will make his second Grand Slam of Darts appearance - having reached the quarter-finals three years ago - after he came through the knockout at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.

Bunting overcame James Richardson 5-4 in his opening game before then seeing off Kirk Shepherd and Vincent Kamphuis as he sealed his Wolves Civic return.

World number 15 Norris, a UK Open semi-finalist in March, was the highest-ranked player to qualify as he overcame 2007 Wolves Civic runner-up Andy Hamilton, Jan Dekker and Ronny Huybrechts to seal his third Grand Slam appearance.

World Matchplay quarter-finalist Darren Webster dropped just three legs in his wins over Mike De Decker, Jamie Caven and Sven Groen as he qualified for the third time in four years.

Robbie Green is also set to make his third Wolves Civic appearance, after seeing off Richard North, Terry Temple, Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort in a tough route to qualification.

James Wilson qualified for a second successive year as he defeated Mickey Mansell, Jeffrey de Graaf, Matthew Dennant and former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown to seal his spot in the field.

Bolton's Joe Murnan, Ireland's Steve Lennon and Dutch youngster Jeffrey de Zwaan all won through to secure their Grand Slam of Darts debuts next week as they battled through the field.

Murnan was taken to a deciding ninth leg by Benito van de Pas and Ryan Palmer as he qualified, with those victories sandwiching a whitewash of Shaun Griffiths for the former Players Championship winner.

Lennon overcame Dimitri Van den Bergh, Steve Beaton and Joe Cullen in an impressive run, while De Zwaan also claimed three big-name scalps in Jonny Clayton, Ian White and Robert Thornton, a former Grand Slam of Darts finalist.

Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis lost out to Simon Stevenson, while Auckland Darts Masters winner Kyle Anderson was knocked out by Kamphuis and Justin Pipe lost to Dennant in a deciding leg.

The draw for the bwin Grand Slam of Darts will be made on Tuesday November 7 and broadcast through Facebook Live. Details will be confirmed at www.pdc.tv and via @OfficialPDC on Twitter once confirmed.

Tickets for the bwin Grand Slam of Darts are available through www.wolvescivic.co.uk or by calling 0870 320 7000.